If there’s one man who can be credited with popularizing karate,
it’s Gichin Funakoshi. Gichin Funakoshi was born in 1868 in Shuri, then
the capital city of the island of Okinawa. He started practicing karate
while in primary school but didn’t begin his mission of spreading it to
the outside world until he was 53.

The story of Gichin Funakoshi’s early years
is similar to that of many greats in karate. He began as a sickly, weak
boy whose parents took him to a karate master named Yasutsune Itosu for
training. Because of a doctor’s herbal remedies and Yasutsune Itosu’s
instruction, Gishin Funakoshi soon blossomed. He became a good karate
student and developed physical expertise and a disciplined mind.

Standout Student

Funakoshi gave the first public demonstration of karate in 1917 in
Kyoto, Japan. When he moved to Japan five years later, he stayed with
other Okinawans at a students’ dormitory in Tokyo. He lived in a small
room alongside the entrance and would clean the dormitory during the day
when the students were in class. At night, he would teach them karate.
After a short time, he’d earned sufficient money to open a dojo.

Funakoshi started visiting the Shichi Tokudo, a barracks located on
palace grounds, every other day to teach and was always accompanied by
Hidenori Otsuka, one of his most brilliant students. In 1927 three
senior students decided that the kata practice they had been focusing on was not enough. They introduced jiyu kumite (free fighting) in their training, so they created protective clothing and wore kendo
masks to shield their faces against hard strikes. Funakoshi heard about
these bouts and, when he could not discourage them — he considered them
belittling to the art of karate — he stopped coming to the Shichi
Tokudo.

Focus on Kata

Funakoshi always believed kata was the secret to becoming skilled in
karate. When he moved to Japan, he brought 16 kata with him: five pinan and three naihanchi, along with kushanku dai, kushanku sho, seisan, patsai, wanshu, chinto, jutte and jion.
He made students practice the pinan and naihanchi forms for at least
three years before he allowed them to progress to the more advanced
kata. The repetitious training paid off, though, because his students
developed the most precise, exact karate taught anywhere.

Although he was sincere about teaching the art, Funakoshi had his share
of critics who scorned his emphasis on kata and decried what they
believed was “soft” karate that wasted too much time. Funakoshi just
kept making his students concentrate on their kata.

Higher Goals

Funakoshi was always a humble man. He didn’t preach the humility of
virtue but a basic humility of a man who is rooted in the true
perspective of things, full of life and awareness. He lived at peace
with himself and with his fellow man.

Whenever Gichin Funakoshi’s name is mentioned, it brings to mind the parable of “A Man of Tao and a Little Man.” As it’s told, a student once asked, “What is the difference between a man of Tao and a little man?”

The master replies: “It is simple. When the little man receives his first dan,
he can hardly wait to run home and tell everyone he made his first dan.
Upon receiving his second dan, he will climb to the roof and shout to
the people. Upon receiving his third dan, he will jump in his automobile
and parade through town with its horn blowing, telling everyone about
it.”

The sensei continues: “When the man of Tao receives his
first dan, he will bow his head in gratitude. Upon receiving his second
dan, he will bow his head and his shoulders. Upon receiving his third
dan, he will bow at the waist and quietly walk alongside the wall so
people will not see him or notice him.”

Funakoshi was a man of Tao. He placed no emphasis on competitions,
record breaking or championships. Instead, he emphasized
self-perfection. He believed in the common decency and respect that one
human being owes another. He was a master of masters.

Funakoshi died in 1957 at age 88, after humbly making a tremendous contribution to the art of karate.

Site Under Construction

Slowly but surely I've implemented changes to the site's look and functionality. I'm sure you have noticed the changes.Ecstatic that I've finally been able to successfully update my site closer more in line with my vision of it.

Not sure if it will be the final look of the site or not, but the Sojourn of Septillion Steps with respect to the site's look has already taken quite a few steps beyond the first!

I will still be endeavoring to put up information I think will benefit your martial arts training as well as your self-defense. I sincerely thank you for visiting/reading!